Abstract. This paper presents an approach to the planning of urban development using an activity analysis framework in contrast with the more prevalent simulation models. Using input - output relations for production of commodities and labor, and a specific geometry for the transportation network, the model determines an 'efficient' land-use pattern and transportation system by solving a linear programming problem. The model incorporates the 'sunk' nature of urban capital and shows how this affects the pattern of development in a growing city. From the viewpoint of data requirements and computational complexity it appears that this approach is worth pursuing in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, the efforts devoted to Lowry-type simulation models of land use.